The massive Sierra storms of last weekend claimed a second life when Justin McCollum, 20, of Roseville, California died after falling into a tree well while snowboarding at Sugar Bowl Resort on Monday, March 19, 2012, according to a story in the Auburn Journal.
According to Sgt. Kurt Walker of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, McCollum was snowboarding with a group of friends on Monday in the Strawberry Fields area, classified as a double black diamond “expert only” run. . . Walker said McCollum fell behind and his friends waited for him at the base of the run. They then took a lift back up and saw the victim in a tree well.
According to the story, “ski patrol performed first aid and transported the individual to the base area where he was pronounced dead. Our thoughts are with McCollum’s family and friends.
The massive snowfall that had so many snowboarders charging for the mountains this weekend (March 16-18, 2012) claimed the life of a 30-year-old man at central California’s China Peak Ski Resort according to a story in the Fresno Bee.
The man was snowboarding alone on one of the slopes when he fell head-first into deep snow and suffocated, China Peak owner and general manager Tim Cohee said. Another visitor to the resort saw the base of the man’s snowboard sticking out of the snow and pulled him out a few minutes after he fell in.
This is the first death at China Peak this year, but the second deep snow snowboard death in as many seasons. Our thoughts are with the man’s family and friends.
From the number of dead opossums we see by the side of the road, we would expect more of them are into skateboarding, but this one apparently loves the snow at Liberty Mountain, Pennsylvania. We apologize in advance.
Sandra Thompson, a retired British school teacher, was celebrating her 59th birthday with her family at Austria’s Kitzbuhel Resort when she fell and hit the back of her head in what is being reported as “an innocuous little fall” according to a story in the Daily Mail. Two days later she was dead.
The following day Mrs Thompson, who was wearing a helmet, fell and hit the back of her head on the snow, while coming down an easier ‘blue’ route. . . She was airlifted to hospital but never regained consciousness and died at Innsbruck University Hospital – just a week after her 59th birthday. . . Holding back tears, her husband Mr Thompson, a managing partner at a solicitors firm, said: ‘One minute everything is fine, you’re all enjoying yourselves, laughing and joking. . . ‘The next minute Sandra was unconscious and never came around.
Gabriel Lee Hilliard, a 30-year-old snowboarder died Wednesday, January 18, 2012, after hitting a tree on the run Deep Temertiy at Aspen Highlands, Colorado, according to a story in the Aspen Times.
The man was discovered, unconscious, by another skier who notified the Ski Patrol. A patroller performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on the man for an unknown period of time before he was pronounced dead at the scene. . . An investigation into the incident revealed a single snowboard track leading into a tree. It is believed the snowboarder hit that tree, continued and struck another tree. A branch from the second tree impaled the man in the left side of his chest, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Our thoughts are with Hillard’s friends and family.
Tim Stone, a 29-year-old Australian snowboarder, who had taken his snowboard off to climb the side of Tarn Basin near the Mt. Cheesman Ski Area on Friday, slipped and fell to his death, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“As a result of slipping on the ice he couldn’t stop and just slid down into rocks, causing a massive head injury,” Senior Constable Dave Watkins of Darfield Police told AAP on Monday. . . The accident happened about 12pm (10am AEST) on Friday, when the man, as yet unnamed, and his two male friends were climbing out of the basin after a morning of snowboarding.
According to The Press, Stone was not wearing a helmet. Our thoughts are with the Stone’s family and friends.
. . . ski patrollers and officials with the Northstar Fire Department were alerted of an unconscious snowboarder at 10:38 a.m. Sunday; they found the man lying by a cluster of trees near the Challenger ski trail on the backside of the resort. . . The man was later pronounced dead after being transported via CareFlight to Tahoe Forest Hospital. His name is being withheld by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office until next-of-kin is notified.
The man was reportedly not wearing a helmet. This is the 16th snowboard death in North America since December 20, 2010. Our thoughts are with the man’s family and friends.
[Update March 1, 2011: the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the snowboarder was Jeffrey Halperin, 30, of San Francisco. “According to Paul Schmidt, chief deputy coroner for Nevada County, preliminary indications are that the death resulted either from the impact of hitting a tree or suffocation from landing head-first in the snow bank. Halperin was not wearing a helmet.” Halperin was reportedly a “statistical programmer for a media research firm.
The family of a 17-year-old snowboarder who is currently brain dead from injuries sustained after landing on his head at Wachusett Mountain on January 16, 2011 has decided to donate Dan Crowther’s organs to those who need them, according to a story on The Boston Channel.
His parents have decided that even if the popular lacrosse player will no longer live, he can live on in others.”We decided that with Dan being brain dead, that doesn’t mean his life is over. We decided to donate his organs so Dan can give others the gift of life,” said his mother, Sharon Crowther. . . Dan’s cousin was with him when he went over the jump at Wachusett. . . “He hit it at a lot of speed. He was probably about 25 feet up in the air,” said Dan Michelczyk, 22. He said Dan was not wearing a helmet. . . “He suffered a contusion to the brain and developed a blood clot, and from that blood clot he suffered a stroke,” his mother said.
According to the story, “eight recipients across the country will benefit from Dan’s organ donations.” At least this way some good can come of a tragic situation.
After having been reported missing at Montana’s Whitefish Mountain Resort on Saturday afternoon, an unnamed 29-year-old snowboarder was found dead by patrollers. He was in a tree well, according to a story in the Whitefish Pilot.
The victim is a Flathead County resident, but his name is being withheld pending notification of family members. The man was snowboarding alone, but had gone to the resort with friends, according to the sheriff’s report. . . This is the second tree-well related death on Big Mountain in the past two weeks.
Sadly, the snowboarder (who is the 10th snowboarder to die in North America since December 20, 2010)was one of two deaths on the mountain Saturday. Another unnamed man was also found unconscious and died later at the hospital, according to a story on KRTV.com. Our thoughts are the families and friends of both men.
A 32-year-old woman reportedly died of suffocation after falling head-first into deep snow while cat-boarding Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at Retallack Lodge near Kaslo, British Columbia, according to a story on CBC.ca.
She was the only snowboarder among a group of skiers who had begun a run down the mountain and suddenly noticed she was missing, Moskaluk said. . . “The guide returned up the hill and used his avalanche transceiver to locate this woman and found her partially submerged in the snow, head first. . . Moskaluk could not say how long the woman was in the snow but she was unconscious and not breathing when found. Staff members performed CPR but were unable to revive her, he said. . . The woman, whose name has not been released, is from southeastern B.C. and was an experienced snowboarder.
The massive Sierra storms of last weekend claimed a second life when Justin McCollum, 20, of Roseville, California died after falling into a tree well while snowboarding at Sugar Bowl Resort on Monday, March 19, 2012, according to a story in the Auburn Journal.
